Response to JCE’s press release of 21st March 2017 in respect of General Thomas Cirilo Swaka

The JCE’s letter strives to depict General Thomas Cirilo Swaka and the Equatorians as enemies of Jieng and Nuer. In this false portrayal of General Swaka, the aim is to divide South Sudanese against one another.

This baseless claim that Equatorians wish to be annexed to Uganda or secede from South Sudan as an independent country is a ploy to delegitimize Equatorians as South Sudanese.

National Salvation Front is a movement championing the cause of all South Sudanese to rid the country of the current tribal system in Juba.

In paragraph 2 of the JCE’s letter, General Swaka is quoted out of context as he clearly referred to the incident of violence in July 2016, and not the power struggle that sparked the conflict in December 2013. Please see paragraph 2 of General Swaka’s resignation letter in its entirety.

The JCE argues that it has no violent agenda but that, “it is Thomas Cirilo himself who has done everything with his tribal death squads to target innocent Jieng on the Equatorian roads and towns.” This is not true.

The evidence of JCE’s violent agenda can be seen in their letters to the international community: ‘The Position of the JCE on the IGAD-Plus proposed compromise agreement’ (file:///C:/Users/Rosemary/Downloads/JCE%20-%20Position%20on%20Proposed%20Compromise%20Agreement%20(1).pdf) and ‘Jieng Council of Elders rejects imposition of peace on South Sudan’ (https://paanluelwel.com/2015/04/01/jieng-council-of-elders-rejects-imposition-of-peace-on-south-sudan/) and also the Obassanjo report: African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan.

As with regards to General Swaka being a leader of a “tribal death squad”, this is nothing other than a deliberate smear campaign to tarnish the image of General Swaka.

It is worth mentioning that General Swaka graduated from the Military College in Khartoum in 1984, that is nearly 2 years following the division of South Sudan into 3 regions of Bahr El Ghazal, Upper Nile and Equatoria by the then President Jaafar Mohamad Niemeri.

This division of the Southern Sudan resulted into the Jieng and the Nuer going to their respective regions. By the time General Swaka graduated from the military college and returned to Juba, arguably 99 percent of the Jieng and the Nuer had gone to their respective regions.

The crucial question then is: which Jieng and Nuer did General Swaka kill?

“The infamous White House” in Juba referred to by the JCE was created by President Omer El Bashir’s regime which came to power on 30th June 1989. The so called “White House” actually was the USAID office in Juba which the government took over and converted into a security office.

The name reflects the colour of the paint of the house. By this time literally there were no Jieng and Nuer in Juba save members of the security forces. Equally, there were no Equatorians in the other two regions as they had to return home. So what is the JCE talking about here?

General Swaka’s rebellion from the Sudanese army and his subsequent joining of the SPLM/A follows the massacre of Equatorian army officers, police officers, prison wardens, wild life officers and intellectuals by the Bashir regime in 1992.

Now if General Swaka were a Jieng hater, why would he have joined an organisation (SPLA/M) whose leader was a Jieng and dominated by the Jieng?

The JCE shamelessly claim that, “[m]ore importantly, the Jieng people possess the largest land mass in South Sudan and they are not in the business of territorial expansion. And so to suggest that The JCE has an agenda for forceful displacement of people from their ancestral lands is again a cheap lie by the general to win sympathy. The idea of tribal territorial expansion ended in the nineteenth century and the general must learn how to properly package his lies.”

This is rich coming from the JCE. When president Kiir issued a decree (Decree Establishment order 36/2015 in October 2015) the JCE was the first to jubilantly congratulate the president for this instrument of land theft from other tribes.

This decree annexed lands from the Chollo, Nuer and Fertit people to the benefit of the Jieng.

Furthermore the naming of places in non-Jieng territories by the Jieng using Jieng names is a attempt to psychologically lay claim of the area. For example Korok Hill in Juba the Jieng have named it ‘Jebel Dinka’, another example is the fact that the Jieng now call Nimule ‘Bor 2’.

If this is not evidence of territorial expansion endorsed by the JCE, why in their alleged civil capacity do they not speak out against it? Given this evidence, how can General Swaka be lying?

In relation to JCE’s claim made in paragraph 10 (last paragraph of page 3), the JCE claims that they have implemented the policy of affirmative action.

Aside from the patronising implications of that claim, please can the JCE provide evidence of this alleged policy which would be demonstrated by proportional representation of all the tribes and the regions in both the army and the government?

Paragraph 11 of the JCE’s letter states: “Another point worth responding to is point 10 of the letter which General Cirilo claimed that the JCE sits in military command meetings and that it gives directives to the military.

This is obviously a very cheap and baseless attack. The SPLA is a military organisation managing a civil war, so a civil body like the JCE has neither the knowledge nor the mandate to give instructions to military professionals.

What is clear is that General Cirilo is full of hate against the Jieng people and his wild claims against the JCE are simply his attempt to hide his hatred and his desire to tarnish the image of the Jieng people.”

The JCE is full of contradictions. Their claim that they are a civil body is utter nonsense. Their letter which we are responding to in itself is evidence that the JCE is not a civil society group because this letter without any doubt is advancing a political end.

Again their letters to the international community and their deadly involvement in the events leading to the cleansing of the Nuer in December 2013 reported in the Obassanjo report speak for itself.

Furthermore, what civic functions does the JCE perform?

For the JCE to deny their participation in military affairs of the Republic of South Sudan is beyond belief. As mentioned earlier, the Obassanjo report into the crisis in South Sudan clearly evidences the fact that the JCE is heavily involved in military affairs of the country.

The fact that they converted the army into Jieng militia cannot be denied and there is no way they can hide it. What kind of a national army would use the Jieng language as its operating language? Especially when Jieng is not the national language of the country, please see the evidence in this YouTube link, ‘The Mighty SPLA (Tiger Division)’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSQDSn3eaBo)

In paragraph 13 of JCE’s letter (paragraph 4 of page 4), the JCE intends to distort the land grab attempts of General Swaka’s ancestral land by members of the Jieng. Please see ‘Confronting the Jieng policy of land grab in South Sudan.’(https://pachodo.org/latest-news-articles/pachodo-english-articles/12156-confronting-the-policy-of-land-grab-in-south-sudan)

What the JCE is doing by their insinuations here is projecting their own behaviour onto the general.

In regards to paragraph 14 of JCE’s letter (paragraph 5 of page 4), the people of South Sudan have been victimised, abused and disempowered by the Jieng dominated government. The logical and natural result of such treatment is scepticism and resentment.

The JCE seeks to trivialise these natural sentiments by dismissing and projecting them as tribalism onto other non Jieng people. This is a dangerous policy because the JCE is living in denial of other communities pains.

Should the JCE continue to peddle this dismissive argument, the other communities may retaliate against the Jieng because the Jieng would not have had the time to reflect and change the behaviour that is alienating them from other South Sudanese communities. Please see, ‘The storm of change gathering to sweep Kiir and the JCE from power.’ (http://www.southsudannation.com/the-storm-of-change-gathering-to-sweep-kiir-and-jce-from-power/)

The attempted character assassination of General Swaka by the JCE is a clear example of the extent to which the JCE will go to discredit a credible opposition leader who has fought tirelessly for the liberation of South Sudan.

The lies fabricated about General Swaka being a foreign agent, corrupt, money embezzler and ‘a weak charactered man’ without any truth in it is intended to destroy General Swaka. We cannot be angry with the JCE for this letter because it is proof that they are clutching at straws to defeat a formidable opponent.

In conclusion, JCE’s ugly role in the destabilisation and destruction of South Sudan with its tribal agenda is openly known to every South Sudanese including children.

Their attempt to rebrand themselves as a civil society group, pursuing peace in the country in order to rebut General Thomas Cirilo Swaka’s evidenced assertion in his resignation letter, will not pull the wool over the eyes of the people of South Sudan.

30 Comments

The history of Kokora is fresh and alive in memories of many people today, so denying the roles played by people who pretend to be saviors of the nation is ridiculous and absurd. The role played by Cirilo family is indisputable…..Peter Cirilo, the brother Thomas Cirilo, executed Kokora I while his brother is now about lead Kokora II. These are facts. They cannot be disputed even if you wake up Joseph Tumbura from his grave. He would tell you that “I engineered it but Peter Cirilo executed it with his brother, Thomas Cirilo, as a commanding officer. Evidently, the hunting down of Jieng, Chollo, and Nuer as “all the same Jenge” in Equatoria in 1980s was not different from current MTN hunting going on Equatorian roads today. Say what you want to say but Kokora II is real and we will face it, full stop.

Deng Monymor,
Why not look at things in a more civilized and political way? Like devolution of the political system and government in the dysfunctional SPLM/A tribal hegemony.
The preponderance of evidence since Kiir became president have shown and proven that South Sudan is a failed state and will continue so UNLESS something else is done.
When ‘kokora’ was introduced in 1983, it enabled almost all the three regions of then Southern Sudan to enjoy the obvious benefits of political and economic powers that were closer at home.
Currently, everything is tightly controlled by a bunch of thieves in Juba and therefore everyone has to come to this town to survive. This is shamefully against Dr. John Garang’s philosophy of taking the towns and services to the people. Blessed Garang, today Ramciel would be like Dubai or Singapore, but for the incompetent Kiir and his tribal cabal aka, JCE.
Let’s wait until Gen. Cirillo kicks Kiir out and takes over power before we hurriedly pass such a misconception.
Editor

To “look at things in a more civilized”! You must have been away from home for very long time, my friend. The MTN hunters don’t even know what this word looks like in practice. Have you not seen how they celebrated when they preyed on some innocent civilians on Juba-Yei road? or their supporters praising Jesus in Churches and at their homes in the civilized world? If this is the civilization manner you are referring to, no wander why you praised Kokora on one hand while abhor it when it is mentioned with connection to Thomas Cirilo, the leader of Kokora II.

I have seen how you mentioned word “veteran” on Thomas Cirilo loosely. Do you really understand what this term means in military terminology? Something should remind you whether your general is a veteran or not if you have known this militarily. From his speech when he defected from Sudanese army, Thomas Cirilo started by saying, “now I will sleep without any fear because I am now among my people.” I remember very vividly when he spoke. He seemed then as a man who was living with fear in Sudanese army and when I met in Bilpam, he looked like how he was when he joined SPLA. Is this the man you call veteran? Hearing about the man and being close to the man are two different things, if you know what I mean.

Good day Sir at whatever time it is down there and good health to your family.

Deng Monymor,
Whilst my presumption that you are also a veteran of the liberation might be correct, I am utterly bamboozled by your blatant undermining of the role those of Gen. Cirillo and other Equatorian officers who escaped from Juba to the SPLA. Their military records will speak loudly for them.
Editor

Just to correct you on something here. I have never undermined any Equatorian officers’ contribution to this nation through SPLA struggle. In fact, I have many friends from Equatoria who suffered a lot like me in the struggle. Therefore, I have to say that your assertion is not true, please. However, the likes of Thomas Cirilo are the ones I am talking about. You might disagree with me but we do know who did what when it comes to being “Veteran.”

Take it as you want it the way you understand it. Did not Sudan let go of South Sudan to prevent more bloodshed and bring lasting peace to the opposing communities? Should we not do the same for the sake of peace? Not only Equatorians but we the Chollo will take our land by force and secede from the savages. Take this very seriously!

Mr Deng or Dick or whatever that name is.
If you are thinking and have concluded what’s happening in equatoria regions is kokora 2, please pack and leave Juba and the surrounding areas because the truth will come, either being kokora or not.

Paul Kegame picking up pièces from the Rwanda’s tragedy issued 1st decree and that was abolishing mention of one’s tribe in rwandan identity documents .Uk’s NSF is runing faster than the general soaking RSS in the depth of the same vomit the general has come to clean.
Brief:no need to ignore that it Will take another general to cherish any hope if the entourage of TC are the same MTN apologists.

False Millionaire,
Why are opponents of Gen. Cirillo not giving the war hero and veteran an opportunity to prove himself and his movement, NAS?
How can you rash to associate Gen. Cirillo with the so-called MTN when the general was still serving in Bilpham; surely Kiir and Malong security agents would have found out and verified such unfounded rumors if indeed they were true.
Gen. Cirillo is perhaps one of the exceptional military men in the degenerate SPLA. Kiir, a primary school standard and a ranker who took decades to become an officer, cannot be compared to Gen. Cirillo, a professional American trained officer and military college graduate, who should rightly have been the Army Chief of Staff, not the illiterate street-boy-renegade-turned-general, Paul Malong.
Please, wait and see what NAS will be like before making a such a conclusion.
Editor

Great press release. The traitorous Jenges Council of Evils’ false accusations against non-Dinka people cannot possibly be let unchallenged with indisputable facts. The traitorous Jenges Council of Evils’ and the drunkard killer nyankiir’s ultimate goal is to annex other tribes’ lands to the traitorous Jenges’. What is happening in Fertit, Chollo, Bari, and Acholi lands are clear manifestations to their(the traitorous Dinka’s) insatiable desire-quest of Dinka expansionism campaigns in South Sudan.

Members of JCE are frightened because they know Gen. Thomas Cirillo is a real threat to them. They are worried. They are trying to rally Nuer People behind them so that they can fight Thomas Cirillo. What a pathetic and coward group!

I do not think how your system ( NSF) survive with out other ethnic from the total of 64 tribes. Juba is a national capital and should be inhabited by all 64 tribes in the name of those who have that land, no land grab only the way other tribes non Bari built their homes made them not happy. The name Jebel Dinka came from their heads (dead bodies) as it is the place where Dinka who were been hunted from Juba town and take there for killing during the Khartoum regime.

Editor, Thomas Cirillo putting Kiir out of power is not going to happen, it is just a wishful thinking because Gen Thomas does not have foot soldiers. Some time we say nice things about our selves so that we feel better. That is what you are doing about Gen Thomas.

Excellent brainstorming regarding the status of Equatoria, we will remind the same since we focus on the truth which is the light that shines throughout the day, that is how we were brought up not to claim others property but to be contended with what we have it is also against the God’s intention, plan, and will.
Beside, morally, we the Equatorians cannot do likewise in Bahr El Ghazal or Upper Nile, we cannot just go there and start claiming what is not ours by means of gun and force.
Our life is based on respect, we were born to respect others and their properties, I think you can learn a lot from us about ethics and disposition if you heed without shame.
Do not steal, do not kill and do not covet… are the fundamental human call even the gentle and pagans know them very well, why not you since they are inevitable.

Roberto. Your Gen Thomas have nothing that can scar people, he is Addis ababa hotel rebel leader. He does not have a single soldier, so what do you think will scar people about empty hand rebel leader. ? You talked about coward people, you know who they are. Let Thomas Cirillo finish his stolen money in Ethiopia first, he will come to Juba after that !

Born to rule, born to loot, born to rape, born to kill and born to whatever comes to your mind. Do you think that these are human ethics, human manner, human understanding, human behaviors and human nature? The historical political issue has never wiped out completely from your minds and hearts since 1978/9 regarding the re-division fo south into three regions. See how you have distorted the meaning of liberation and struggle just because of wicked ideologies i.e. you fought with the Jalaba for almost 50 years and now you have been fighting with yourself what does this mean to you who were born to rule? looting is ruling, raping is not ruling, and killing is not ruling, though. Vengeance begets vengeance, retaliation begets retaliation and hatred begets hatred read Auciss reports to understand your nature and behavior towards others who are not related to you by any means timidly. Yet what do you think South Sudan should be governed and ruled? What is in your mind about system governance and administration of South Sudan?

To Mr Deng Monymor, I wonder whether you were there during Kokora or not! If you were there before blaming others you should ask yourself what was the causes that culminated Kokora. If you don’t, allow me to educate you and others like you who may need to be educated. There were two factors that precipitated Kokora.

1- For Ppresident Nimeri and Shiek Hassan El Turabi to implement their Islamic agenda, they had to divide South Sudan into three regions in order to divide and confuse the people of South Sudan and make it easy to achieve their objective.

2- Factor number two that let the Jalaba to achieve their Islamic agenda is the same factor that created problem everywhere in South Sudan now. The policy of one tribe want to dominate other tribes in all aspect of lives was one of the reason that other tribes mostly from Equatoria supported the division of South Sudan into three regions.

In any civilised nation, any citizen can live in any state he or she likes but in situation like ours in South Sudan where the whole clan, village or tribe leave their villages and want to migrate to others’ places what do you think about it?

If you Mr.Monymor were in Juba for example working or doing business, that is fine but why do you want to bring the whole village or the whole clan to Juba with their cows and destroy others properties and cause problem. You all want to come to equatorial where there is peace, hotels, food, and good life while abandoning your areas under develop. Does it make any sense. The same things you can do it in your areas so that it can attract others too to visit you. Go to your state, county and Payams and see for yourself. Though every state has budget but your budget is only consumed and not used for development. The governors and all the state ministers bring their relatives from villages and stay with them in government houses that is why all the state budgets is consumed instead of using it for building infrastructures.
I am not against any tribe but this are facts that you should know if you are brainless.
My message to you is that, correct yourself before you criticised others.

speaking of brainless ones, I’m always amazed at how many friends from Equatoria seem to have no clue the with way South Sudan stands as a nation. Most of you wrongly assumed that the present of every Jieng in other cities in South Sudan means Jiengland has been completely emptied….a great work of imagination of fools. If this kind of thinking is not corrected among your confused intellectuals, you will always find yourselves in more confusion than ever because no understanding seems to enter into your self-deceived brain. To give you some clue of what I mean, when I talk with people from your region who went to schools in Rumbek, Tonj, Aweil, Bor, etc. as well as others who worked in these cities, I find their utter ignorance of these places they worked or even been schooled in something very interesting, despite their academic show off, compared to any Naath, Chollo, Murle, arab, or Maban person who lived there. I think something mysterious is going on here. However, I don’t blame you, just Keep fooling yourself, it is a great asset as things unfolding themselves in South Sudan right now.

With Kokora I and Kokora II history, that lecture will never help in educating Deng Monymor who is well versed with how South Sudan’s struggle to maintain herself as a strong nation, which always finds herself fighting her own citizens who make themselves prostituting the cost of one nation for the sake of empty promises. The core ideology of Kokora is based on fear and that fear will never leave you no matter how educated you might look. In fact, your Kokora II leader, Thomas Cirilo, is driven by it. He left Sudanese army not because he was to help liberate his country but because he found himself surrounded by many arab officers in Sudanese army. Read his speech when joined SPLA. Unlike you and your Kokora II leader, I, Deng Monymor, have lived in many parts of South Sudan, among different tribes but I have never had any fear about them of domination. So if you want to educate me, educate me on why most of you fear of been dominated by others….I have hard time understanding this. Otherwise, I know the mental state you are in and that state of mind won’t anything. Look at Alhag Paul, Dr. Kwajok, Thomas Cirilo writings and tell me if something doesn’t confirm my assertion.

Dear brother Monymor quoting from your own wards ” I’m always amazed at how many friends from Equatoria seem to have no clue the with way South Sudan stands as a nation”
What a puzzle! Is tribalism, financial and administrative corruption, grabbing others land, killing innocent people, turning national army into a bunch of tribal militias, human rights violations, raping women is your understanding of South Sudan as a nation? from this point one can tell that this is the reasoning capacity of a kraal boy who know nothing about what a nation is. that is not your mistake brother Deng because since you were young you were just dumped in a kraal with other boys and what you know is only fighting, send to steal cows from other tribes and so forth.
For your information a nation should be an entity in which there are government institutions with clear policies and procedures how to meet the needs of its citizens. There should be rule of law, accountability, Socio-economic development, freedom of speech, equal opportunity, justice and equality for all regardless of tribe, religion, cultures and these are the objectives that we were fighting the Jalaba.

What is happening in South Sudan is precisely similar to the story in the animal farm if you know about it and if you don’t, I will not tell you but I request you to research for it may be after reading it what we are raising in this forum can bring sense to you.

Yes indeed I agree with you there were many students who studied in your areas also the same there were many of you who studied in Equatora too. That is normal thing any citizen can study where he wants and that is not what we are discussing about in this forum. We are talking about bad behaviours which are unacceptable in 21st century.

Also I agree with you that there were some Equatorians who worked in your areas but the difference is that, they did not take their goats, chickens, and the whole relatives from their villages with them. Also they did not abused or grabbed others property nor rape women by force.

Running nakedly with bare hands covering one’s behind while at the same time pretending to be an informed one was what caused great confusion among your intellectuals. It doesn’t matter at this stage whether one has read George Orwell’s works of Animal Farm or 1984 if the subject is approached with this mindset. Let’s assume, from your words, that South Sudan is at this stage, so what kind of animal would you be in this farm? Could you be a cow or a dog? for I am sure you would not a a pig according to that history. You see, people sometimes make an analogy unknowingly where they actually predict things about themselves perfectly, and then complain about it later when their prophecy comes to its self-fulfilling. Don’t prophecise too much about yourself.

I was trying to point out many contradictions embedded in the mindset of your “civilized” kinds. Instead of you educating me on why you constantly live with fear of being dominated by other South Sudanese, you ran to Kraal and what have you without knowing that most people who are your role model of good civilization began with animal owning stage. White people began with dogs and horses; in fact, the name they given to the Creator you now worship, God, is a dog spelled backward. Furthermore, arabs and many others started with animals too. If I were you, I should be taking time to learn a thing or two instead of always demonizing some cattle herder societies while praising others whose way to civilization began with history of animal rearing. Very strange, of course, that history doesn’t teach fools. What you call “21 century” is a product of many changes along way; in fact, many America’s constitutional amendments add up to the model you now pray for, is it not?

First of all south Sudan was not worn militarily…so stop praising JIENGE in any liberation struggle. That’s how you fool yourselves about your fictitious victories. JIENGE always want to claim what is not achieved by them. That’s a fact! Move away from Juba including your illiterate President Kirr al awirr!

Lako Lukudu. We don’t claim something false, you are having a government we took a way from Arabs by force. Not like you Equatorians who like to claim other peoples’ other hard work. You many of you used called themselves Ugandans or Congolese during the war, only to talk big now when Arabs are gone in South Sudan.

Ya mading, you don’t even know where you belong. Khartoum is your ancestral land that you can not take from your slave .asters the (Mundukuru). You occupy part of the Nuba kingdom in the north of the country and are lazy cattle herders with no sense of self sufficiency. Equaroria is blessed with the equator and constant abundance of natural resources. You are foolish to think like a cow chewing it’s own puke!

Mading,
Why are you refusing to be civilised? Please refer to Lako Lukudu’s posting above. “South Sudan was not won militarily”. It was delivered through the ballot paper for which all South Sudanese participated. Stop fubricating lies about taking anything by force from the Arabs or liberating South Sudan. If it were not for the UPDF, you would have ran back to your arab cousins/uncles in the north. South Sudanese are aware of some of your elders and politician who are openly campaigning to sell South Sudan back to the north. Please be reminded that South Sudanese have paid dearly to have this country and will not buy into this campaign/plan but if you and your people are seeking reunification with arabs, you can go peacefully.

J Gore. You talked about everybody voting for independence in the South, do you know what led to that vote? It was through barrel of gun, For your information if you where living Uganda or Congo at that time. what is uncivilized about telling truth the about many of your Equatorians who used to say I am not Sudanese when SPLA soldiers asked them to help in the fight against Arabs. so you feel a shame now that Dinkas who were there at those days are telling South Sudanese stories of the past.? Both of you J Gore and Lukudu like to talk about voting in the South in 2011, but not the liberation that brought you ballot box, because you were not part of it. An other point I want to put in your Jur heads is that UPDF are our ally like when your Equatorians traders like Celemen Wani Munderi militias and Equatoiria Defend Force used to fight a long side of Arab forces.

A story is told of how some Bari man by name, Gubek one sunny and hot day during the “karanga” went down to “Supiri” or the River Nile to have some cool bath. He took off his clothes and hung them on a nearby branch of a small mango tree. While enjoying his cold bath, a mentally retarded jaang locally known as Lual came along, snatched Gubek’s clothes and was a dash with them. Upon noticing, Gubek sprung out the river while shouting loud, “ya harami jienge sibu libas tai” in local Juba arabic. He gave Lual a chase both naked ofcourse. Onlookers were shocked seeing two adults running wild naked one after the other in the direction of Konyokonyo. Whereas most locals knew who Lual was, they couldn’t believe seeing Gubek naked and chasing Lual. For others, they couldn’t tell the difference between both men. This short story illustrates the fact that arguments with some of our jaang friends often become soo blurred that there is hardly any difference between what is sane and outright idiocy. The best is let go. Equatorians have more urgent businesses to do than long and hopeless discussions with jaangs.